Table Of Content

. Editor’s note: This is the twentieth volume of the INPS newsletter, and the first “winter” issue ofthe new Sage Notes schedule (details on back page). In this issue we welcome the new “Kinnikinnick” chapter in Sandpoint and have last minute news about the Rare Plant Conference, February 10-11, in Boise. Be sure to look over the list ofother events Illustration by Jeanne R. Janish from Vascular plants planned for RPC week. Thanks again to of the Pacific Northwest by C. Leo Hitchcock et al„ Karen Gray for our winter cover. 1959, University of Washington, Seattle. Reprinted withpermission. In this issue Original Prairie Lands, Constance Hatch 1 Perspectives from a 1990s Wildlife Biologist, Jay Shepherd 2 A New INPS Chapter at Sandpoint With an Exciting Proposal, Lois Wythe 2 The Importance ofHollow Trees to Wildlife, Evelyn L. Bull 3 The Bryophyte Connection ofNorth Central Idaho, Leonard Lake 4 Plant Profile: Tripterocladium leucocladulum, Karen Gray 7 Arkansas Postcard: In Praise of Spring-Flowering Hardwoods, Wayne Owen 8 Chapter News 9 Fourteenth Annual Rare Plant Conference—and More, Nancy Cole 10 Idaho Native Plant Society List of Idaho’s Rare Flora: Criteria for Inclusion, Ranking, and Recommendations to Agencies, Nancy Cole and Bob Moseley 10 INPS Board Meeting Minutes, Leonard Lake 13 Think summer! 13 Review: Wild Trees of Idaho 14 Review: Flora ofthe Pacific Northwest CD-ROM 15 News and Notes 16 Dues Notice Please check your mailing label. You will no longer receive Sage Notes when your dues lapse ) Winter 1998 SAGE NOTES A Publication ofthe Idaho Native Plant Society Vol. 20 (1) Original Prairie Lands From ‘The CraigmontYears” by Constance Talbott Hatch The author was born in 1906 and now resides in Kamiah. She grew up on afarm just north ofCraigmont, Idaho. As we went to the mailbox we went past a small comer ofAunt Ella’s place that had never been plowed. There were some rocks at its lower end, and a trickle ofcreek ran along its side in the springtime when the snow was melting. Maybe it was an acre ofland, maybe less. It was a good place to stop and enjoy the wildflowers and leam a lot about them too. Mama had studied botany when she attended the university in Moscow and so she knew most ofthe plants that grew there. I use the scientific names, although I know that I am opening the way for people to call me a “haughty culturisf’. Ifyou ask six people the common name ofa plantyou will probably get four different answers. Some that I remember are: Buttercup(Ranunculusglaberrimus) early, on rockyslopes Sunflower(Balsamorhiza sagittata) dry rocky spots Yellow bells (Fritillariapudica) Saltand pepper(Hesperochironpumilus) nextto creek Lambtongue (Erythronium grandiflorum) Violets (Viola sp.) Johnny-jump-up (Viola sp.) Shooting stars, bird bills (Dodecatheon sp.) Yellow Camas Camassia quamash Wildrose Rosa nutkana ( ) ( ) Poison camas (Zigadenus venenosus) grows with blue camas Wild hyacinth (Brodiaea douglasii) Blue bells (Mertensia sp.) Wild geranium (Geranium sp.) Sugarbowls (Clematis hirsutissima Wildonion (Allium sp.) Catears (Calochortus elegans) Grass widow (Olsynium grandiflora) [=Olsynium douglasii] Wild tulip (Calochortus macrocarpus) dry rockyhillsides These were the flowering plants. I know that there were many grasses, but I didn’t leam their names except rattlesnake grass (Bromus brizaeformis). There were many squirrels, a badger, and numerous field mice. At least one pairofprairie chickens built a nest there. Prairie chickens were still quite common when I was a very small child, but by the time I was 18 years old, we never saw them anymore. They built their nests on the open prairie, all ofwhich was soon plowed, mostly in the spring when the birds were nesting. There was no open hunting season, but still people shot them. Once in the early morning in a winter“whiteout”, a large covey ofthem flew overthe house and into the bam roofwhich they could not see because it was covered by a light skiffofsnow. Eighteen or twenty ofthem were killed and fell into the barnyard. Papa gathered them up, and we had a real Thanksgiving feast on illegal chicken. The folks had at first thought that they should report the kill to the game warden, but finally decided to accept the birds as manna from Heaven. Other animals I remember were deer, bear, cougar, wolf(very scarce), bobcats, raccoons, coyotes (numerous). Columbia ground squirrels were everywhere; badgers caught them, weasels too. There were gophers, moles and field mice. Birds in the area included Canada geese, various ducks, snow geese, swans flying north in spring and - 1 - Winter 1998 SAGE NOTES A Publication ofthe Idaho Native Plant Society Vol. 20(1) Jacqueline E. Moore south in fall (they seldom landed in the fields), mountain bluebirds, blackbirds, red-winged blackbirds, meadowlarks, chipping sparrows, robins, flickers, woodpeckers, sparrow hawks, eagles, owls (various kinds such as bam, pygmy and snowy); mourning doves were plentiful, and condors very scarce. ....Perspectives from a 1990s Wildlife Biologist Constance TalbottHatch Jay Shepherd, WhitePine Chapter was probably using the common name ofthe period when she referred to prairie chickens. These birds were most likely Columbian sharp-tailed grouse Tympanuchusphasianellus columbianus from what we can understand from present day ( ) range maps and thejournals ofLewis and Clark. Paul Russell Cutright in “Lewis and Clark: Pioneering Naturalists” writes “the [Columbian sharp-tailed] Grouse or Prairie hen is peculiarly the inhabitant ofthe Great Plains ofColumbia.” The lesser and greater prairie-chickens Tympanuchus ( pallidicinctus and Tympanuchus cupido respectively) are species ofthe great plains ofthe Midwest. The sharp-tailed grouse is a widespread species that occurs from the four comers area ofthe Southwest to Alaska and east to Ontario; including the Columbia plateau and its associated grasslands. “Condor” was probably the colloquial term ofthe period for the turkey vulture Cathartes aura which ( ) is in the same family, Cathartidae, as our continent’s only condor, the Californian condor (Gymnogyps califomianus). These species have similar appearances ifnot sizes. A New INPS Chapter at Sandpoint with an Exciting Proposal Lois Wythe, Kinnikinnick Chapter Last April Lois Wythe, Sandpoint Master fall to vote on INPS membership, to have the Gardener and herbalist, convened more than 60 summerto get to know each other, to determine if native plant enthusiasts to discuss field trips, the initial interest would be sustained, and to learn programs, and the possibility ofbecoming a chapter more about what such membership would entail. ofINPS. An enthusiastic group resulted complete During the summer members were busy. They with steering committee, a monthly newsletter, and attended Calypso Chapterfield trips and organized temporary officers. The group decided to wait until outings oftheir own, thanks to Valle Novak. - 2 - Winter 1998 SAGE NOTES A Publication ofthe Idaho Native Plant Society Vol. 20 (1) Program speakers included Calypso memberJill membership to the state society, and 55 members Blake, who spoke about rare native species, and sent applications to INPS President Kristin Fletcher Ben Silverman, who gave a presentation on the use for board approval. The new chapter was approved ofnatives in landscaping. Members were kept unanimously at the January Board meeting (see informed by Mike and Phil Franklin’s monthly INPS Board Meeting Minutes p. 13). newsletter. A Board memberofthe Montana Native The chapter has an exciting proposal: a North Plant Society, Dennis Nichols, explained the Idaho Native Plant Arboretum, to be constructed workings ofnative plant societies. and maintained by the chapter, with invitation to A popularfeature at meetings is the “information local young people who could later act as guides. table” to which members bring books, plant specimens, articles, or catalogs. One native plant is Upcoming KinnikinnickChaptereventsare listedin Chapter discussed in detail at each meeting. Newsonp. 9. The Chapter’saddressandofficersare listedon In Novemberthe group voted to apply for the backofSage Notes. The Importance of Hollow Trees to Wildlife Evelyn L. Bull, USFS Pacific Northwest Research Station Although the value ofsnags to wildlife has been well documented, the importance ofhollow trees has only recently been recognized. A hollow tree is created when heart-rotfungi invade the heartwood ofa living tree, and decay progresses to the point thatthe cylinder ofdecayed heartwood eventually detaches from the sapwood and slumps downward, leaving a hollow chamber. This process begins only in a living tree and can take decades to produce a chamber large enough for wildlife to use. Because this particular decay process is dependent on living trees, the only way to obtain a hollow dead tree or log is to start with a living tree hollowed out by decay. Pileated woodpeckers Dryocopus ( pileatus) use hollow trees for roosting at night; they excavate theirown entrance holes into the hollow chamber and do not depend on broken tops for access. Entrance holes excavated by the woodpeckers allow other species to enter, such as flying squirrels Glaucomys sabrinus bushy- ( ), tailed woodrats Neotoma drierea), bats, ( American martens Martes americana), ( northern flickers Colaptes auratus), and ( Vaux’s swifts Chaetura vauxi). ( Martens frequently use hollow trees for denning, as well as for resting and hunting. Martens also rely heavily on hollow logs in both the summer and winter. Vaux’s swifts, a species that nests in the Pacific Northwest Vaux’s swifts circling hollow tree in which they are but winters in Central America, must have nesting, by Susan Lindstedt hollow trees for both nesting and roosting in - 3 - ) Winter 1998 SAGE NOTES A Publication ofthe Idaho Native Plant Society Vol. 20 (1) forests. the hollow trees used by wildlife. I suspect hollow Hollow trees with broken tops provide some chambers may be common in old western red cedar black bears (Ursus americanus with winter den (Thujaplicata) in Idaho, as well. Large, hollow sites in the Pacific Northwest. These arboreal dens trees are uncommon in managed landscapes and provide females and subadults with sites that are typically are found only in late- and old-seral safe from predaceous, large, male bears. stands. Because ofthe unique structural features To be ofvalue to wildlife, typically the hollow and wildlife values that hollow trees possess and tree must be at least 20 inches (51 cm) in diameter. because it can take decades to form hollow The large diametertree is required because the chambers, these trees should be retained in forested hollow portion consists only ofthe former stands. heartwood, which is only a portion ofthe entire tree girth. In recent studies, trees used by black bears Ms. Bull adapted this article forSage Notesfrom "Treesand averaged over43 inches (109 cm) in diameter, Logs Important to Wildlife in the Interior Columbia River while trees used by pileated woodpeckers averaged Basin” by Evelyn L. Bull, Catherine G. Parks, andTorolf R. 28 inches (71 cm) in diameter. Torgersen, available from Forestry & Range Sciences Lab, In eastern Oregon, grand fir (Abies grandis) and 1401 Gekeler Lane, LaGrande, OR 97850. western larch Larix occidentalis make up most of ( ) The Bryophyte Connection of North Central Idaho Leonard.Lake, Nez PerceNational Forest Over the last couple ofyears I have become Hong 1976, Moseley and Pitner 1996). The names impressed with the diversity ofnon-vascular plant follow Anderson et. al. 1990. The list is life in and around the Salmon River and Clearwater approaching 250 taxa. It should be viewed as River drainages. The rugged topography provides a extremely preliminary, since no doubtthere are diversity ofmicroclimates relative to elevation, numerous species that have been overlooked. moisture, aspect, and slope position. The different However, it does provide a reasonable starting rock types and plant communities provide a variety pointfor those interested in the local distribution of of substrates to which mosses and liverworts can Idaho’s bryological flora. attach. Bryophytes with mainly a coastal distribution can be found in the mild wet canyons of the Clearwater River, while those normally found in the hot country ofthe Great Basin extend into the Literature Cited dry slopes ofthe lower Salmon River. The southern distribution ofmany boreal species extends down Anderson, L. E., H. A. Crum, and W. R. Buck. 1990. List the Northern Rocky Mountains into the ofthe mosses ofNorth America north ofMexico. Salmon/Clearwater basins. The small fens that Bryologist 93:448-499. punctuate the headwaters ofmany streams provide Dewey, R. M. 1983. Bryophytes ofthe Tenmile Creek habitat for Sphagnum and other wetland species. drainage, Idaho. Bryologist86:114-116. Limestone outcrops along Slate Creek, John Day Hong, W. S. 1976. Annotated checklist of the hepaucs of Creek and Papoose Creek attract many species with Idaho. Bryologist79:422-436. an affinity for calcareous substrate. Moseley, R. K. and A. Pitner. 1996. Rare bryophytes and The attached list is based on personal collecting lichens in Idaho: State ofour knowledge. Idaho Dept. over the last few years, and a few publications that Fishand Game. Unpublished Report. document taxa from Idaho County (Dewey 1983, - 4 - Winter 1998 SAGE NOTES A Publication ofthe Idaho Native Plant Society Vol. 20 (1) Preliminary List of the Bryophytes of Idaho County: Mosses Amblystegiumpolygamum B.S.G. Dichodontiumolympicum Ren. & Card. Hypnumcircinale Hook. Amblystegiumserpens(Hedw.) B.S.G. Dicranellarufescens (With.) Schimp. HypnumcupressiformeHedw. Amblystegiumserpensjuratzkanum Dicranoweisiacirrata(Hedw.) Lindb. Hypnumdieckii Ren. & Card. (Schimp.) Dicranumpallidisetum (Baily ex Holz) Irl. Hypnumlindbergii Mitt. Anacoliamenziesiibaueri(Hampel) How Dicranumhowellii Ren. &Card. Hypnumrevolutum (Mitt.) Lindb. Antitrichiacalifornica Sull. DicranumscopariumHedw. HypnumsubimponensLesq. Antitrichiacurtipendula(Hedw.) BricL Dicranumtauricum Sapeh. HypnumvaucheriLesq. AtrichumselwyniiAust. Didymodonrecurvirostris (Hedw.) Jenn. Isotheciummyosuroides Brid. Aulacomniumandrogynum(Hedw.) Didymodontophaceus(Brid.) Lisa Kiaeriastarkei (Web. & Mohr) Hag. Schwaegr. Didymodonvinealis (Brid.) Zand. Leptobryumpyriforme(Hedw.) Wils. Aulacomniumpalustre(Hedw.) Schwaegr. Distichiumcapillaceum(Hedw)Bruch& Leptodictyumhumile(P. Beauv.) Ochyra Barbulaacuta (Brid.) Brid., Muse. Schimp Leucolepismenziesii (Hook.) Steere Barbularubiginosa Mitt. Distichiuminclinatum (Hedw.) B.S.G. Meesiatriquetra (Richt.) Aongstr. BartramiapomiformisHedw. Ditrichumflexicaule (Schwaegr.) Hampe MessiauliginosaHedw. Brachytheciumalbicans(Hedw.) B.S.G. Drepanocladusaduncus (Hedw.) Wamst. Metaneckeramenziesii (Hook.) Steere Brachytheciumasperrimum (C.Muell.) Drepanocladuscapillifolius (Wamst.) Mniumarizonicum Amann. Sull Drepanocladusfluitans (Hedw.) Wamst Mniumblytii Bruch & Schimp. in B.S.G. Brachytheciumfrigidum (C.Mull.) Besch. Drepanocladusuncinatus(Hedw.) Wamst. Mniumspinulosum B.S.G. Brachytheciumholzingeri(Grout)Grout Dryptodonpatens(Hedw.)Brid. Neckeradouglasii Hook. Brachytheciumhylotapetum B.Hig. & EncalyptaciliataHedw. Orthotrichumaffine Brid. N.Hig. Encalyptarhaptocarpa Schwaegr. Orthotrichumalpestre Homsch. BrachytheciumleibergiiGrout. EncalyptavulgarisHedw. Orthotrichumcupulatum Brid. Brachytheciumvelutinum(Hedw.) B.S.G. Eucladiumverticillatum (Brid.) Bruch& Orthotrichumlaevigatum Zett. BryumargenteumHedw. Schimp. Orthotrichumpumilum Sw. BryumcaespiticiumHedw. Eurhynchiumpraelongum(Hedw.) Orthotrichumrupestre Schleich. ex BryumcapillareHedw. Schimp. Schwaegr. Bryumcreberrimum Tayl. Eurhynchiumpulchellum (Hedw.) Jenn. Orthotrichumspeciosum Nees in Sturm. BryumminiatumLesq. EabroniapusillaRaddi OrthotrichumstriatumHedw. Bryummuehlenbeckii B.S.G. FissidensbryoidesHedw. PhascumcuspidatumHedw. Bryumpallescens Schleich. ex Schwaegr. Fontinalisneo-mexicana Sull. &Lesq. Philonotisamericana (Dism.) Row. Bryumweigelii Spreng. FunariahygrometricaHedw. PhilonotisfontanaHedw. BuxbaumiaaphyllaHedw. Grimmiaanodon B.S.G. Plagiomniumcuspidatum (Hedw.)T. Kop. Buxbaumiapiperi Best Grimmialaevigata (Brid.) Brid. Plagiomniuminsigne (Mitt.) T.Kop. Buxbaumiaviridis(DC.) Moug. & Nestl. Grimmiaovalis(Hedw.) Lindb. Plagiomniummedium (B.S.G.) Koponen Calliergoncordifolium (Hedw.) Kindb. Grimmiapulvinata(Hedw.) Sm. Plagiomniumrostratum (Schrad.) T.Kop. Calliergonstramineum (Brid.) Kindb. Grimmiatenerrima Ren. &Card. Plagiomniumvenustum (Mitt.) T.Kop. Campyliumchrysophyllum (Brid.) J. Grimmiatorquata Homsch. var. torquata Plagiotheciumdenticulatum(Hedw.) Lange Grimmiatrichophylla Grev. B.S.G. Campyliumhispidulum (Brid.) Mitt. Hedwigiaciliata(Hedw.) P. Beauv. Plagiotheciumlaetum Schimp. in B.S.G. Ceratodonpurpureus(Hedw.) Brid. Helodiumblandowii(Web. & Mohr.) Pleuroziumschreberi (Brid.) Mitt. Claopodiumbolanderi Best Wamst. Pogonatumurnigerum(Hedw.) P.Beauv. Claopodiumcrispifolium (Hook.) Ren. & Heterocladiummacounii Best Pohliabulbifera (Wamst.) Wamst. Card. Heterocladiumprocurrens (Mitt.) Jaeg. Pohliacruda(Hedw.) Lindb. Climaciumdendroides(Hedw.) Web. & Homalotheciumaeneum (Mitt.) Lawt. Pohlianutans(Hedw.) Lindb. Mohr. Homalotheciumfulgescens (Mitt.) Lawt. Pohliaobtusifolia (Brid.) L. Koch. Coscinodoncalyptrata (Hook, inDrumm) Homalotheciumnevadense(Lesq.) Ren. & Polytrichastrumalpinum (Hedw.) G.L.Sm. C. Jen ex. Kindb. Card. PolytrichumjuniperinumHedw. Cratoneuroncommutatum (Hedw.) Roth. Hookerialucens(Hedw.) Sm. Polytrichumlongisetum Brid. Crossidiumsquamiferum var.pottioideum Hygrohypnummolle(Hedw.) Loeske Polytrichumlyallii (Mitt.) Kindb. (De Not.) Monk. Hygrohypnumochraceum (Turn, ex Wils.) PolytrichumpiliferumHedw. Cynodontiumjenneri (Schimp. in Howie) Loeske Porotrichumbigelovii (Sull.) Kindb. Stirt. Hylocomiumsplendens (Hedw.) Schimp. Pseudoleskeaincurvata(Hedw.) Loeske Desmatodonconvolutus (Brid.) Grout. Hymenostyliumrecurvirostre(Hedw.) Pseudoleskeapatens (Lindb.) Kindb. Desmatodonlatifolius(Hedw.)Brid. Dix. Pseudoleskearadicosa (Mitt.) - 5 - Winter 1998 SAGE NOTES A Publication ofthe Idaho Native Plant Society Vol. 20 (1) Mac&Kindb. Rhytidiadelphusloreus(Hedw.) Wamst. Sphagnumsquarrosum Crome Pseudoleskeastenophylla Ren. & Card. Rhytidiadelphussquarrosus(Hedw.) Sphagnumsubsecumdum Nees. Pseudoleskeellatectorum (Funck) Kindb. Warnst. Sphagnumteres (Schimp.) Angstr. PterigynandrumfiliformeHedw. Rhytidiadelphustriquetrus(Hedw.) Sphagnumwarnstorfii Russow. Pterygoneurumovatum (Hedw.) Dix. Warnst. TetraphispellucidaHedw. Ptiliumcrista-castrensis(Hedw.) De Not. Rhytidiopsisrobusta (Hook.) Broth. Thamnobryumneckeroides (Hook.) Lawt. Ptychomitriumgardneri Lesq. Roelliaroellii (Broth.)Andrews ex Cram Thuidiumabietinum (Hedw.) B.S.G. Racomitriumaciculare(Hedw.) Brid Schistidiumagassizii Sull. & Lesq. TimmiaaustriacaHedw. Racomitriumaquaiicum (Brid.ex Schrad.) Schistidiumapocarpum(Hedw.) Bruch& Tortellatortuosa (Hedw.) Limpr. Brid. Schimp. Tortulabartramii Steere Racomitriumcanescens(Hedw.)Hampe Scleropodiumobtusifolium (Jaeg.) Kindb. Tortulanorvegica (Web.) Wahlenb. ex Racomitriumheterostichum (Hedw.) Bnd. Scleropodiumtouretii (Brid.) L. Koch. Lindb. Racomitriummacounii Kindb. in Mac. Scouleriaaquatica Hook, in Drumm. Tortulapapillosissima (Coppey) Broth. Racomitriumoccidentale(Ren. & Card.) Sphagnumangustifolium (C.Jens. ex Tortularuralis(Hedw.) Gaertn. Ren. & Card. Russ.) C. Jens. Trachybryummegaptilum (Sull.) Schof. Rhizomniumglabrescens (Kindb.) T.Kop. Sphagnumcapillifolium(Ehrh.) Hedw. Tripterocladiumleucocladulum (C.Mull.) Rhizomniummagnifolium (Horik.) T. Sphagnummendocinum Sull. & Lesq. Jaeg. Kop. Sphagnumrussowii Wamst. WeissiacontroversaHedw. Liverworts Anastrophyllumhellerianum (Ness.) Dum. Moerckiablytii (Moerck) Schust. Geocalyxgraveolens(Schrad.) Nees Plagiochilaasplenioides(L.) Dum. Anastrophyllummichauxii (Web.) Buch. Jamesoniellaautumnalis (DC.) Steph. Plagiochilaporelloides Aneurapinguis(L.) Dum. JungermannialanceolataL. Porellacordaeana (Hub.) Evans Asterllalindenbergiana (Corda) Lindb. Lepidoziareplans(L.) Dum. Porellaplatyphylla (L.) Lindb. Athalamiahyalina (Sommerf.) Hatt. Lophocoleacuspidata (Nees.) Limpr. Porellaroellii Steph. Barbilophoziafloerkei (Web&Mohr) Lophoziaalpestris (Schleich. ex. Web.) Ptilidiumpulcherrimum (Web.) Hampe. Loeska Evans Radulabolanderi Gott. Blepharostomatrichophyllum(L.) Dum. Lophoziabarbata (Schmid.) Dum. Radulacomplanata(L.)Dum. Calypogejaintegristipula Steph. Lophoziabicrenata (Schmid, ex Hoffm.) Riccardialatifrons Lindb. Calypogeiasphagnicola (H. Amell & J. Dum. Riccardiapalmata(Hedw.) Carruth. Perss.) Lophoziaexcisa(Dicks) Dum. ScapaniabolanderiAust. Calypogeiasuecica (Am. & Perss.) K. Lophoziahatcheri (Evans) Steph. Scapaniacurta (Mart.) Dum. Mull. Lophoziaheterocolpa(Thed.) M.A. Howe Scapaniairrigua(Nees)Dum. Cephaloziabicuspidata subsp. bicuspidata Lophoziaincisa(Schrad.) Dum. Scapaniamucronata Buch. (L.) Dum. Lophoziakunzeana (Hub.) Evans Scapaniapaludosa (K. Mull.) K. Mull. Cephaloziaplencips (Aust.) Lindb. Lophozialycopodioides (Wallr.) Cogn. Scapaniaumbrosa(Schrad.) Dum. Cephalozialunulifolia(Dum.) Dum. Lophoziaobtusa (Lindb.) Evans Scapaniaundulata (L.) Dum. Cephalozielladivaricata (Franc) Schiffn. Lophoziaporphyroleuca (Nees) Schiffn. Solenostomasphaerocarpum (Hook.) Chiloscyphuspallescens (Ehrh.) Dum. Lophoziaventricosa (Dicks.) Dum. Steph. Chiloscyphuspolyanthus (L.) Corda. Lophoziawenzelii (Nees) Steph. Tritomariaexsectiformis (Breidl) Schiffn. Conocephalumconicum (L.) Dum. Manniafragrans (Balbis) Frye & Clark Diplophyllumtaxifolium (Wahlenb.) Marsupellaustulata(Hub.) Spruce - 6 - Winter 1998 SAGE NOTES A Publication ofthe Idaho Native Plant Society Vol. 20 (1) Plant profile: Tripterocladium Besides Idaho, it is known to occur in British leucocladulum (C. Muell.) Jaeg. Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California Karen Gray, White Pine Chapter In his 1969 paper "Phytogeography of northwestern North America: Bryophytes and John Leiberg lived in Hope, Idaho, in the late vascular plants," Schofield lists it under "species that have a wide range but are rare" (Schofield 1800s. While there, he collected mosses and 1969:161). other plants in Kootenai County. He sent the mosses to Elizabeth Britton in New York; she I have found some along Highway 12 between Lewiston and Orofino, growing on identified them and wrote them up for the moist basalt rubble under syringa and Bulletin ofthe Torrey Botanical Club. Among the many mosses he collected was chokecherry. It is a polymorphic moss, Tripterocladium leucocladulum. He wrote, sometimes depending in great festoons, but in "In April, 1890, we first observed it, depending this case in more ofa cushion or tuft. The in long, wide festoons, sterile, from shelving branches are very fine, irregularly pinnate, and granite ledges along the shores ofLake Pend almost threadlike. Its distribution is not well d'Oreille, Idaho; a month later, up a canon, we understood; searches by the Kinnikinnick Chapter ofthe Idaho Native Plant Society to found it again, abundantly fertile, growing very relocate Leiberg's populations or to locate new luxuriantly in large, compact masses, on ledges populations would be a valuable contribution. ofdolomite as well as on the trunks and branches ofTaxus brevifolia and Thuya gigantea [Thujaplicata]. Last spring we met it again, fertile, on ledges ofporphyritic granite" (Leiberg 1892:7). The canyon he referred to was North Gold Creek. capsule'*’'. Bibliography Britton,E.G. 1891. ContributionstoAmericanBryology- A 11, supplementaryenumerationofthemossescollected byMr. JohnB. Leiberg inIdaho, withdescriptionsoftwo newspecies. Bulletinofthe TorreyBotanicalClub 18:49- 56. Cardot, J. andI. Theriot. 1902. Neworunrecordedmosses ofNorthAmerica. Bryologist 5:47-49. Chamberlain, E.B. 1915. JohnB. Leiberg. Bryologist In Idaho, it has been collected east ofMyrtle 18:47-48. by Daubenmire in 1946, and by F. G. Meyer, in Leiberg, J. B. 1892. Somenoteson Tripterocladium 1936, along Sheep Creek in the Snake River leucocladulum Muell. Bulletinofthe TorreyBotanical , Canyon. Louis H. Henderson also made Club 19:7-9. collections in Latah County in 1894, in Juliaetta Schofield, W.B. 1969. Phytogeographyofnorthwestern NorthAmerica: Bryophytes andvascularplants. Canyon. Madrono20: 155-207. - 7 - ) Winter 1998 SAGE NOTES A Publication ofthe Idaho Native Plant Society Vol. 20 (1) Arkansas Postcard: In Praise of Spring-flowering Hardwoods Wayne Owen, Botanist, Ouachita National Forest The one thing I most wanted to experience when Carolina silverbells (Halesia tetraptera) dangle out I moved to Armadillo-land was the legendary fat clusters of inch-long, white flowers. The first hardwood forests ofcolonial America, Daniel warm days ofspring also coax into bloom the Boone, and Li’l Abner. Don’t get me wrong. When bashful, yet exotic, red-brown, leathery flowers of I close my eyes and call forth images ofthe perfect the pawpaw (Asimina triloba). These bizarre landscape, I envision gnarled and bannered blossoms are precursors to the delectable custard whitebark pines dotting ridgelines, and broad- banana, a fruit sought after by possums and people skirted clumps ofsubalpine fir punctuating the alike. My favorite ofthe many local native softer slopes. I imagine places that are open and hawthorns is the early flowering parsley-leaved bright with sunlight, with flowers that are large and haw (Crataegus marshallii). Itsfinely divided leaves close to the ground, places that are sheer and rocky, keep it interesting when it is not bearing its cheery, where the wind embraces you with both hands. But red-anthered, white flowers. The most outstanding no one can live on theirfavorite foods alone, and so feature ofthe pasture hawthorn (C. spathulata), I don’t feel the sharp pangs ofinfidelity when another earlyflowering haw, is its trunk. Its dark speaking lovingly ofthe broad-leaf, hussy forests gray outer bark peels readily from the sinewy trunk ofthe south. to reveal a cinnamon colored inner covering. By the time you read this, the vernal witchhazel American plum (Prunus americctna), a species (.Hamamelis vemalis) will be blooming. In January familiar to Idahoans, flowers in late March. The and February, still winter in the Ouachita flavorful, red plums ripen in mid to late summer Mountains, the shiny, naked gray stems ofthis and are one ofmy favorite wild edibles. Wild hogs large shrub (sometimes small tree) will sprout forth love them too, and most plum groves attract the scant garlands ofpale yellow flowers. The early notice ofrooting razorbacks. As April begins, the spring burlesque show continues with the flowering magnolias start to flower. Most spectacular is the ofthe eastern serviceberry. This smallish tree umbrella magnolia, with flowers as broad as 10 produces an abundance ofbright-white flowers inches and leaves that can reach 3 feet in length. before leafing out, and lives most ofits life deep in The evergreen southern magnolia is not native to the shade ofoverstory trees. In very early spring Arkansas, but it is widely planted and commonly however, before the leaves ofthe oaks and grows wild in the woods. The fragrance of its hickories capture most ofthe sky, the serviceberry fleshy, white flowers is the scent ofthe south. is the queen (or Lady Godiva?) ofthe forest. Not all spring-flowering trees are quite so As beautiful as the preseason exhibition is, it’s showy. In April and May the nut trees bloom. only the warm-up act for the real stars ofthe spring Oaks, hickories, hazelnut, and beech all trot out tree season. In March and April the woods pulse their goodies in the first months ofspring. Heavy with the vibrant red and white ofdogwoods and tassels ofstaminate catkins droop from high redbuds. Dogwood flowers can seem cliche. You branches and rain down pollen on everyone and see them everywhere in the spring; on calendars, in everything ofthe forest floor before falling spent to fake-flower bouquets, in catalogs, and especially in the ground themselves. The pistillate flowers of the suburbs. Although dogwood is a favorite these trees are less conspicuous, but ifyou look landscape tree in Hot Springs, no lawn-trained closely (whip out that hand lens) you’ll see dogwood in the world can equal the spectacle of intricately branched crystalline stigmas that glisten rolling hillsides scattered with thousands of with rainbow colors in the bright spring sunshine. untamed dogwoods. Just as wild dogwoods far The female flowers won’t mature nuts for several outshine their domestic cousins, wild redbud trees months but every creature that walks or flies in the with their rose-magenta pea blooms are best forest awaits that gravid harvest. appreciated when seen scattered through acres of The oaks, the archetypal eastern forest trees, are hillside, commingled with dogwoods under the lumped into one oftwo groups: red oaks or white sheltering arms oflarger trees. oaks. In general, red oak leaves have pointed lobes Dogwoods and redbuds are the heralds ofthe and white oak leaves have rounded lobes. White season, but the true beauty of spring in eastern oak (Quercus alba is a common and stately tree that forests is in the diversity. In March and April, occurs throughout the eastern halfofthe U.S. It is - 8 -